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by Scott Lucas | Dec 19, 2018 | EAWORLDVIEW – Russia, Turkey, and Iran have failed to reach agreement on the composition of a constitutional committee to help resolve Syria’s 93-month conflict.The foreign ministers of the three countries, meeting in Geneva, signed an agreement in principle for a committee leading to “a viable and lasting […]

Turkey, Russia, Iran call for ‘viable, Syrian-led’ political process in Geneva DAILY SABAH WITH AGENCIES – ISTANBUL – 18 Dec 2018 – Published 7 min ago Turkey, Russia and Iran called for the launch of a “viable and lasting Syrian-led, Syrian-owned and U.N.-facilitated political process” after talks in Geneva on Tuesday, saying that a new […]

Amberin Zaman December 13, 2018 – AL MONITOR : Article Summary – Despite Turkey’s threats to attack the US-allied Kurdish militia in Syria, there is little evidence that Washington would let Ankara move into the Syrian Kurdish area under its protection.

Will Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan follow through with threats to send Turkish troops against the United States’ Kurdish allies in Syria? The question has grown ever more pressing since the Pentagon’s swift and stern response to Erdogan’s vow yesterday to “start the operation to clear the east of the Euphrates from separatist terrorists in a few days.” Although Erdogan emphasized that a Turkish incursion would not target US military personnel in any way, it remains unclear how the US would respond if Turkey waded in, raising the specter of confrontation between the NATO allies.

Yellow Vest protests cause satisfaction and resentment in Turkey

Semih Idiz December 12, 2018 – AL MONITOR – ARTICLE SUMMARY – Protests in Paris have ignited fears of copycat demonstrations against President Erdogan in Turkey. Five years have elapsed since Istanbul’s Gezi Park demonstrations, which started as a simple environmental protest but quickly escalated into a nationwide protest of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rule by predominantly secularist quarters.

Wednesday & Thursday 5-6 December 2018, European Parliament, Brussels – THE KURDISH FACTOR IN WORLD POLITICS: CRISIS, CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

The Annual International Conference on the EU, Turkey and the Kurds was hosted by the EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) in cooperation with the European United Left-Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL), the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA), and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) groups of the European Parliament. This conference was successfully held on 5-6 December 2018 in the European Parliament in Brussels.

Pentagon spokesman Commander Sean Robertson said any unilateral military action in northeast Syria would be a “grave concern”, as it could potentially jeopardise US troops working with the SDF in the region.

“We would find any such actions unacceptable,” he said in a statement. Read full text :

Pentagon cautions Turkey over new operation against Syria Kurds

By Afp Published: 00:05 GMT, 13 December 2018 | Washington’s relationship with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) is one of the main sources of tensions between Turkey and the United States

Any unilateral military action in northern Syria would be “unacceptable”, the Pentagon said Wednesday after Turkey announced it would launch an operation against a US-backed Kurdish militia.The warning came after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would soon begin a mission targeting the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a “terrorist” group.

12 Dec 2018, Wed – 08:52 – LAZGIN IBRAHIM – ANH Agency – Turkey, led by Erdogan and his party, as a cancerous object is trying to spread in the body of the whole world and form entities and influence in the heart of these countries to paralyze every movement against it and its policies, and it does not lose an opportunity or way to extend its arms in intelligence in Europe and Arab and Islamic countries, taking this time what can be called “Intelligence Mosques” to infiltrate several European and Arab countries and enter the gate of modern mosques in Europe and the Ottoman in the Arab countries, where the spying imams work. On the other hand, there were signs of a European and Arab awakening to the Turkish risk and the work of cutting its arms in their countries, such as Austria and Egypt.

Why did the PUK’s brief flirtation with the PKK come to an end?
By Hemin Abdullah yesterday at 10:09 RUDAW – The decision to close the headquarters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)-linked Tavgari Azadi (Kurdistan Free Society Movement) in the areas controlled by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) was nothing new. Following the Kurdish uprising, the PUK regularly fought with the PKK.

SULAIMANI, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— The security situation is progressively getting worse in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region amid an increase in homicides, a Kurdish official has said.“Whenever crime increases in any country, it means that country’s security forces have no ability to protect people’s lives,” head of the Independent Human Rights Commission Diya Butros said in a press conference on Sunday (December 9).

“The human rights situation in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq is getting worse day by day.”

Economic Links, Bypassing US Sanctions, By Year-End

The European Union’s foreign policy chief says a mechanism for non-dollar trade with Iran, bypassing US sanctions, is likely by the end of December.

Federica Mogherini told reporters in Brussels on Monday, “I will expect this instrument to be established in the coming weeks before the end of the year as a way to protect and promote legitimate business.”

Mogherini did not offer further details about the Special Purpose Vehicle, following a meeting of EU foreign ministers, but said work on its creation is “advancing well”.The EU official and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif agreed the SPV in September. It provides for transactions, including European purchases of Tehran’s oil and gas, in euros.

Amberin Zaman December 10, 2018 – AL MONITOR – Article Summary – The move highlights the complexity Washington faces in its efforts to maintain a military presence in Syria while appeasing fellow NATO ally Turkey. – The United States has established at least three observation posts along the Turkish-Syrian border in an apparent dismissal of Turkish concerns about their role, an official with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) asserted today. The move highlights the complexities bedeviling the United States’ efforts to maintain a military presence in Syria with the help of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), who are the core component of the SDF, while scrambling to appease fellow NATO ally Turkey.

Contacted via telephone in northeast Syria, the SDF official — who spoke on condition that he not be identified by name — said the posts had been established in Kobane, Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ain in US-protected territory along Syria’s northeastern border with Turkey.

WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA) – Jack Detsch December 9, 2018 AL MONITOR – Article Summary – The Donald Trump administration is confident that its pressure is eroding the Syrian regime and its allies. The Donald Trump administration believes it has leverage over Russia and Iran to bring the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria back to the negotiating table and rekindle the UN-led peace process.

US Syria envoy Jim Jeffrey this past week said the international community should “pull the plug” on the Russia-led Astana process because of its failure to make progress on a new constitution for the war-torn country. Jeffrey made the remarks at a State Department briefing Monday before traveling to Turkey and Jordan on Tuesday to reassure key American allies in the conflict.